Movable wall construction for glass fiber forming hoods and the like

ABSTRACT

A MOVABLE WALL CONSTRUCTION MADE UP OF A PLURALITY OF VERTICAL FIGHTS OR SEGMENTS, WHICH CAN QUICKLY AND EASILY BE REMOVED FROM A MOVING AND GUIDING STRUCTURE FOR THE SEGMENTS. THE INVENTION HAS PARTICULAR ADVANTAGES FOR   THE CONSTRUCTION OF MOVABLE SIDE WALLS OF FORMING HOODS FOR PRODUCING GLASS FIBER MATS AND THE LIKE.

Jan. 5, 1971 A. B HAVENS 3,553,053

MOVABLE WALL CONSTRUCTION FOR GLASS FIBER FORMING HOODS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 2, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet l SWNNER LOCIWONS INVENTOR. 4?)?40? 5 644M515 ATTORNEYS A. B. HAVENS MOVABLE WALL CONSTRUCTION FOR GLASS FIBER FOR Jan. 5, 1971 HOODS AND TH LIKE 5 Sheets. eet 2 Filed Jan. 2 968 [NV/5ND) 42mm 5 6/4 VN5 ATTOR YS Jan. 5, B H VENS MOVABLE WALL CONSTRUCTION FOR GLASS FIBER FORMING HOODS AND THE LIKE INVIiN'IOR.

ATTORNEYS United States 3,553,053 MOVABLE WALL CONSTRUCTION FOR GLASS FIBER FORNHNG HOODS AND THE LIKE Arthur B. Havens, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to Owens- Corning Fiberglas Corporation, a corporation of Dela- Ware Filed Jan. 2, 1968, Ser. No. 694,974 Int. Cl. B29j 5/04; E05d /06 US. Cl. 156-371 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Prior to the invention, mats of mineral fibers that are bonded together by an organic binder have been made by pulling the mineral fibers into a forming hood that is positioned over a horizontal conveyor. The fibers are carried along in a large volume of gases into which a binder is sprayed, and the fibers and spray which are fed to the forming hood are sucked down upon the conveyor by a suction box positioned beneath the top surface of the horizontal conveyor. The fibers are attenuated and carried along by a large volume of these turbulent gases, so that the fibers and the spray impinge upon the walls which form the forming hood. The Walls forming the forming hood have for the most part been stationary, and some of the wetted fibers collect on the walls of the forming hood where they stick for a period of time. Some of these fibers fall down onto the surface of the mats being formed as wads of fibers, and others remain on the side walls of the forming hood until the equipment is shut down and cleaned. The wads of glass fibers which fall off of the walls of the forming hood are drier than the fibers on the surface of the conveyer, and these wads leave imperfections in the mat being formed. Not only are these wads not integrated well with the rest of the fibers of the mat, but their binder composition is different from that of the mat, so that when the mat containing the wads is cured in an oven, they visually stand out as an imperfection.

It has been proposed heretofore to make the vertical side Walls of the forming hood, movable so that they can be moved out of the forming area and cleaned of the troublesome wads and debris. The construction of the movable walls which have been proposed heretofore, have comprised vertical flights or wall segments which have been Welded or otherwise rigidly secured to drive chains and guiding structure which move and guide the individual flights or wall sections in and out of position. The proposed structures are such, that the individual flights or Wall sections cannot be removed without substantial dismantling of the entire movable wall structure.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a new and improved movable vertical wall structure individual flights or wall sections of which are supported, guided and moved in such manner that they can be individually removed without disturbing any of the other flights or their associated supporting, guiding, and moving tructure.

SUMMARY The movable vertical wall structure of the present invention comprises a plurality of vertical flights or wall Patented Jan. 5, 1971 sections which are guided and moved adjacent their top surface by attachment to the links of a drive chain, which in turn is positioned between and guided by a pair of op posing vertical guide surfaces. Alternate ones of the vertical flights are supported by horizontal rollers which ride upon the top surface of a horizontal rail. These flights in turn support the top drive chain, which in turn is connected to and supports the remainder of the vertical flights. The bottom half of the remainder of the vertical flights, are provided with vertical projections, preferably rollers supported about vertical axes, which project upwardly to between a pair of opposing and parallel vertically oriented guide surfaces. The lower half of the vertical flights are moved by a bottom drive chain which in turn is driven in unison with the top drive chain. Quick disconnect means are provided between the lower drive chain and each of the vertical flights. The quick disconnect means which are provided on those flights having a horizontally extending support roller are arranged to be disconnected by vertical movement of the flight, and the remainder of the flights which have a vertical guide adjacent their bottom ends are arranged to be disconnected from the bottom chain by downward movement of the flight. The quick disconnect means attached to the flights having a vertical guide adjacent their bottom ends secures the bottom chain against lateral movement, and the bottom chain in turn laterally supports the bottom ends of the flights which do not have a vertically projecting guide. Those flights having a horizontal support roller can therefore be removed from the upper and lower drive chains, after removal of the fastening means to the top drive chain, by vertical movement of the flight. The remainder of the flights can be removed, after removal of their fastening means to the top drive chain, by downward movement of the flight.

In the preferred embodiment, the vertical movable wall structure is intended to be the side walls of a forming hood wherein the vertical walls are positioned immediately above the top surface of a horizontal conveyer, so that downward movement of any of the flights is precluded when the flights are positioned over the horizontal conveyer. In the preferred embodiment, the entire movable wall structure is supported by a truss, the opposite ends of which are provided with carriages having rollers which ride upon the top surface of horizontal rails that extend transversely of the horizontal conveyer. The movable Walls, therefore, can be positioned laterally relative to the center line of the horizontal conveyer so that mats of different widths can be formed. In addition, the entire movable wall structure can be moved laterally to one side of the horizontal conveyer for the removal of those flights requiring downward movement. The flights are, of course, connected together in endless fashion, so that a particular flight can alternatively be removed by stopping the in line movement of the wall sections when the flight to be removed is in the outer return run which is free and clear of th horizontal conveyer. The guide surface for the top drive chain, and for the bottom vertically projecting guides are preferably inverted generally U-shaped struc tures to keep debris out of the top chain and bottom guides, respectively.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an isometric view showing the general arrangement of apparatus embodying principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view, with portions broken away, of the movable side wall structure shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken approximately on the line 33 of FIG. 2;

3 FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken approximately on the line 44 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken approximately on the line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The apparatus shown in the drawings for producing mat generally comprises a glass furnace having a forehearth 12 proceeding therefrom to deliver the molten glass to a plurality of forming stations 14, one of which is shown in solid lines and others of which are shown by dotted lines. The bottom of the forehearth at each forming station is provided with a metal plate 16 having a hole therein for delivering a stream of molten glass 18 into the hollow shaft 20 of a motor driven centrifuge 22. A motor 24 surrounds the top end of the shaft 20 and a centrifuge basket 26 having a plurality of openings in its other periphery is fixed to the bottom end of the hollow shaft 20. A plurality of molten streams of glass are thrown from the openings in the basket 26, and a downwardly flow of gases over the edge of the basket 26, produced by means not shown, causes the molten streams of glass to be attenuated into small filaments that are dispersed in the stream of gases in what are known as a veil 28. The apparatus preferably includes a multiplicity of veil producing mechanisms 14 and four are shown in FIG. 1.

The glass fibers from the various veils 28 are collected on the top foraminous run 30 of a horizontal conveyor 32 having a head pulley 34 and tail pulley 36. A suction box 38 is positioned beneath the top run 30 to draw the large volume of gas downwardly through the top run 30 and cause the fibers of the veils to be deposited on the top surface of the conveyer 32 in the form of a mat 40. The swirling volume of gases and fibers which constitute the veils do not assume the cylindrical shape shown in the drawings, but spread out violently in all directions and must be confined to the top surface of the conveyer 32. In the embodiment shown, the fibers and gases are confined to the top run 30 by a pair of parallel side walls 42, a stationary rear end wall 44, a front end wall 46, and roll gate 48.

The mat of loose fibers that is formed within the confines of the walls above described (hereafter called forming hood), is bonded together by a binder that is sprayed into the confines of the forming hood through a plurality of nozzles 50. The binder that is used is an aqueous solution which permeates the mat. Droplets of the binder solution are held at crossover points of the fibers forming the mat, and the binder impregnated mat 40 is delivered to a cure oven 52 where the water is removed and the binder cured to a thermoset condition. In the present instance, the binder which is used is a phenol formaldehyde resite. The bottom edge of the front end Wall 46 is positioned well above the height of the fibers collected in the forming hood, and the rear edge of the roll gate 48 is generally tangent to the bottom edge of the front end wall 46 to generally seal off the forming hood and smoothen out the fibers issuing from the forming hood.

In the present instance, the parallel side walls 42 are formed as part of endless conveyers 54, the adjacent parallel runs 42 of which move in the direction opposite from that of the top run 30 of the horizontal conveyer 32. As such, the movable side walls 42 rub against the side edges of the mat being produced, but it has been found not to tear or unduly damage the side edges of the mat.

Each of the endless side wall conveyers 54 are formed from a plurality of vertical elements 56 which are fastened to and are carried by top 58 and bottom 60 roller chains which move about sprockets forming head pulleys 62 and tail pulleys 64. The sprockets forming each tail pulley 64 are connected together by a shaft 66 and each shaft 66 is in turn driven by motor and gear reducer 68, only one of Which is shown. The endless side wall conveyers 54 are constructed in such a way that the space between the vertical conveyer elements open up, or become enlarged as they round the head pulley 62 to loosen and expose any debris accumulated therein. The debris between the vertical conveyer elements is washed from the side wall conveyers by wash nozzles 70 which project a stream of water against the top edge of the respective side wall conveyer outwardly of the end wall 44 as the vertical elements round the head pulley 62. The flow of wash water issuing from the nozzle 70 washes wads and other debris downwardly into a recovery pay 72 from which the wash water flows to a separator 74 which removes the glass fibers. The wash water is recirculated by a wash water pump 76 to the nozzles 70. The binder that is removed from the wads and from the side walls becomes dissolved in the wash water and a side stream of the wash water is pumped by pump 78 to a binder preparation tank 80 where it is used to formulate the aqueous binder solution. The aqueous binder solution is in turn pumped by pump 82 to the binder nozzles 50 previously described. After the vertical conveyer elements are washed by the flow of water from the nozzles 70, the vertical elements move forwardly to a squeegee 84 positioned at an angle to force the water downwardly into the recovery pan 72. The squeegee 84 is located adjacent the head pulley 56 and any water that remains after the squeegee operation, has an appreciable time to evaporate before the elements round the tail pulley to move into position in the forming hood.

As previously indicated, the adjacent movable side walls 42 of the forming hood each comprise one run of identical but opposite hand endless conveyers 54. Each of the vertical flights 56 are removably fastened at their upper edge to the top roller chain 58 as by bolts 86. The lower links of the top roller chain 58 are provided with integral depending brackets 88 to which the flights 56 are bolted. Alternate ones of the flights 56 are provided with horizontal axles 90 on which support rollers 92 are journaled and which in turn ride upon longitudinally extending rails 94 which extend lengthwise of the horizontal conveyer 30. The flights 56 having these support rollers 92 thereon therefore support the top roller chain 58, and the top roller chain 58, in turn, supports the alternate flights 56 which are positioned between the flights 56, having the rollers 92 thereon. The top roller chain 58 rides between opposing parallel guide surfaces 96 that are supported by suitable brackets 98.

The vertical flights 56 which do not contain a support roller 92 are provided with an upwardly extending guide 100 adjacent their lower end. Each upwardly extending guide comprises a roller 102 supported by a vertical axle 104 that is in turn supported by an angle bracket 106 aflixed to the flight 56. The rollers 102 are positioned between opposing parallel vertical guide surfaces 108 which are parallel to the guide surfaces 96. In the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings, the guide surfaces 108 are the depending legs of an inverted U-shaped member 110 which keeps debris out of and protects the upwardly extending guides 100.

The lower end of the vertical flights 56 are moved in unison with their upper ends by means of the bottom chain 60 which as previously explained is driven by a shaft 56 which also drives the upper roller chain 58. The bottom roller chain 60 is secured to the lower portion of each of the vertical flights 56 by quick disconnect means 112 which securely clamps the chain to each of the flights. In the present instance, the quick disconnect means 112 comprises a generally horizontal Z-shaped bracket or dog 114, the downwardly depending leg of which is welded to the conveyer flight, and the upper extending leg 118 of which confines a conveyer link bracket 120 between itself and the surface of the conveyer flight. The conveyer link brackets 120 are integral with a link of the roller chain 60 and each has a U-shaped slot or notch 122 in its end surface, which notch 122 receives the horizontal leg 124 of the Z-shaped bracket 114. The side edges of the notch 122, therefore, bear against the sides of the Z-shaped dog 114 to drive the lower end of the flight 56 connected thereto. The conveyer link brackets 120 which are connected to the flights 56 having upwardly extending guides 100 thereon, project downwardly from the roller chain 64 for reasons which will later be apparent. The conveyer link brackets 120 which are afiixed to the flights 56 having a support roller 92 thereon, extend upwardly from the roller chain 64 for reasons which will likewise later be apparent. Lateral movement of the bottom end of alternate flights 56 is therefore directly prevented by the guides 100, and the flights in turn prevent lateral movement of the conveyer chain 60. The lower ends of the remaining flights 56, which do not contain an upwardly extending guide 100, are restrained against lateral movement by the conveyer chain 60.

When it is desired to remove a conveyer flight 56 having a support roller 92 thereon, its bolt 86 is removed from the top chain 58, and the flight 56 is lifted vertically to slide the Z-shaped bracket 114 out of the notch 122 in the conveyer link bracket 120 of the lower roller chain 60. No other attachment means is provided to an adjacent conveyer flight 56. The conveyer flight 56 having a vertical guide 100 thereon, is removed by first removing its bolt 96, followed by downward movement of the flight 56 relative to the rest of the structure. Downward movement of the flight moves its Z-shaped bracket 114 out of the slot 122 in the cooperating conveyer link bracket 120, and at the same time slides the upwardly extending guide 100 out of the U-shaped guide member 110.

The forward and return runs of each endless conveyer 54 are supported and guided by structure which is identical excepting that it is opposite hand. The rails 94, brackets 98 and U-shaped members 110 are supported by a truss structure 126 that is centrally located between the runs of the conveyer 54 and which extends between the head pulley 62 and tail pulley 64. Opposite ends of each truss structure 126 are provided wtih a horizontal carriage 128 having flanged wheels 130 at its opposite ends, and which flanged wheels ride upon horizontal rails 132 which are positioned laterally over the horizontal con veyer 30. Each endless conveyer 54, therefore, can be positioned laterally with respect to the horizontal conveyer 30 to adjust the width of the mat which is formed thereon. Additionally, the endless conveyers 54 can be moved laterally to a position free and clear of the horizontal conveyer structure 30 where the conveyer flights 56 can be moved downwardly as is required for the removal of those flights having an upwardly extending guide 100. The bottom ends of the flights 56 are positioned approximately A inch above the top surface of the horizontal conveyer 30 for necessary running clearance, and a seal between the flights 56 and horizontal conveyer 30 is provided by a strip of wood 134, or the like, which runs longitudinally of and rides upon the top surface of the horizontal conveyer 30. The strip seal 134 is supported from the truss structure 126 by a suitable bracket 136.

It will now be apparent that a vertical movable wall structure has been provided that is articulate in that it is formed from individual elements of flights 56 each of which can be removed from the supporting and driving structure without disturbing the supporting or driving structure or the attachment of the structure to adjacent flights.

While the invention has been described in considerable detail, I do not wish to be limited to the particular embodiment shown and described, and it is my intention to cover hereby all novel adaptations, modifications, and arrangements thereof which come within the practice of those skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

What is claimed is:

1. A movable vertical wall structure comprising: a plurality of aligned generally vertical flights, generally horizontal pull means extending past said vertical flights, said pull means being capable of supporting vertical loads, a first set of spaced apart ones of said flights being connected to and supporting said pull means, a second set of spaced apart ones of said flights being hung from said pull means, a horizontal support surface extending past said aligned flights, and support means fastened to said first set of flights and bearing on said support surface.

2. The movable vertical wall structure of claim 1 wherein said pull means is a chain having top and bottom spaced apart links articulated about vertical pins to resist movement in a vertical plane.

3. The movable vertical wall structure of claim 2 wherein said support means are fastened to alternate flights, and the remaining flights are supported by said chain.

4. The structure of claim 2 wherein said support means can be lifted vertically off of said horizontal support surface.

5. The structure of claim 4 including: a pair of parallel guide surfaces extending past said aligned vertical flights and facing each other, respective members of said second set of flights having guide structure extending upwardly between said guide surfaces, said structure having sufficient clearance beneath said guide surfaces for said guide structure to be separated therefrom by downward movement.

6. The structure of claim 5 wherein the chain is a roller chain the rolls of which are positioned between a second pair of laterally spaced guide surfaces.

7. The movable vertical wall structure of claim 5 including a second chain positioned beneath said first chain and connected to said flights, said second chain also having top and bottom spaced apart links articulated about vertical pins, said first set of flights being separable from said second chain by vertical movement and said second set of flights being separable from said second chain by downward movement.

8-. The movable vertical wall structure of claim 7 wherein said chains are roller chains, said structure including: a pair of head and tail sprockets, said chains being endless, and respective chains passing around respective members of said pair of head and tail sprockets.

9. The structure of claim 8 wherein the top chain is received in and guided laterally by an inverted generally U-shaped structure, and wherein the parallel guide surfaces are part of an inverted generally U-shaped member and wherein the individual guide structure comprise an upwardly projecting member attached to a respective flight and which is received in said inverted generally U-shaped guide member.

10. A movable wall structure comprising: a plurality of aligned generally vertical flights, a horizontal support surface extending past said aligned flights, support means fastened to a first set of alternate flights and bearing on said support surface, facing parallel guide surfaces extending in the same direction as said support surface and having clearance beneath, a second set of alternate flights, individual guide means extending from said second set of flights up between said guide surfaces, and hinge means between said first and second sets of flights and constructed and arranged so that said first set of flights separate from said second set of flights by upward movement and said second set of flights separate from said first set by downward movement.

11. A movable vertical wall comprising: top and bottom pairs of generally horizontally spaced opposing parallel guide surfaces, a plurality of aligned vertical wall sections extending past said guide surfaces, a top drive chain guided between said top pair of opposing guide surfaces, said chain being articulated about vertical axes, top fastening means securing respective ones of said vertical wall sections to respective lengths of said top chain, a horizontal support surface extending past said vertical wall sections, a plurality of support rolls rotatable about generally horizontal axes riding on said support surface and respective ones of which are secured to respective wall sections to support the sections, there being clearance above said support surface and support rolls for vertical separating movement, guide structure secured to remaining wall sections and projecting upwardly between said bottom pair of guide surfaces, there being clearance below said guide surfaces for downward separating movement, a bottom drive chain extending along said vertical wall sections, and bottom fastening means securing said vertical wall sections to said bottom drive chain, said alternate wall sections separating from said bottom drive chain upon vertical movement of the wall sections, and the remaining vertical wall sections separating from said bottom drive chain upon downward movement of the wall sections.

12. The movable wall structure of claim 11 wherein said bottom fastening means comprise vertically separat- References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 554,397 2/1896 Pollard 160196X 1,868,233 7/1932 Hungerford 160'196 2,510,229 6/1950 Joa 19-156X BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner J. J. DEVITT, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 156-369; 160196 

